Although Tuberculosis Handling Increases, WHO Reveals Funding Could Be A Threat Of Resilience

Illustration of the pair lanisir (Pexels/Vlada Karpovich)

JAKARTA - Tuberculosis (TB) remains one of the causes of death from dangerous infections in the world. The disease claimed more than 1.2 million lives and affected about 10.7 million people last year, according to a recent World Health Organization (WHO) report.

Efforts to handle TB continue to be carried out by WHO and various other parties. This has made progress in recent years, in diagnosis, treatment, and innovation.

However, in the midst of this progress, funding is still a challenge to deal with TB. The challenge of funding could have caused a setback in the current handling of TB, if not immediately addressed.

"The decline in TB's global burdens, and progress in testing, treatment, social protection, and research are all good news after years of setbacks, but progress is not a win," said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, quoted from the WHO's official website, Thursday, November 13, 2025.

As in the WHO report, between 2023 and 2024, the global rate of people who fell ill with TB decreased by almost 2 percent, while deaths from TB decreased by 3 percent.

The reduction indicates a sustainable recovery from essential health services, after disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Several regions and countries also show sustainable progress in handling TB. Between 2015 and 2024, the African region achieved a 28 percent reduction in the TB incident rate and a 46 percent reduction in deaths.

Meski penanganan TB mengalami berbagai peningkatan, tingkat kemajuan global masih jauh dari memenuhi target Strategi Akhir TB. Hambutan utama adalah pendanaan global untuk TB, yang telah stagnan sejak tahun 2020.

In 2024, only 5.9 billion dollars is available for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. This is only more than a quarter of the annual target of 22 billion dollars, set for 2027.

Cuts in international donor funds from 2025 onwards pose serious challenges. Modeling studies have warned that long-term cuts in international donor funding could result in up to 2 additional deaths, and 10 million people suffering from TB between 2025 and 2035.

"The constant cuts in funding and epidemic drivers threaten to cancel the profits earned are hard," said WHO Department Director for HIV, TB, Hepatitis, and IMS, Dr. Tereza Kasaeva.

"But with political commitment, sustainable investment, and global solidarity, we can turn things around and end these ancient killers (TB) forever," he concluded.